ON AXILLARY LYMPH NODE MORPHOLOGY BREAST CARCINOMA INFLUENCE

It is known that axillary lymph nodes are the main barrier to the spread of breast cancer metastases. Therefore, the study of the effect of breast carcinoma on the parenchyma of the lymph nodes seems relevant. The purpose of this study is the morphological features of axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer without metastases and with metastases in the axillary lymph nodes. Using histological methods, light microscopy and morphometry, we examined axillary lymph nodes from 18 women (35-81 years old, average age 63 years) diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma without signs of specificity (GII, GIII), 5 of them without metastases, and axillary lymph nodes of 5 deceased (15 nodes) due to cardiovascular diseases aged 57-70 years ( group of the comparison). The nodes were fixed in 10% neutral formalin solution and embedded in paraffin. From each lymph node preparation, 25–30 histological sections 4–5 μm thick were prepared. The sections were stained with azure-II and eosin, hematoxylin and eosin, and the Mallory method. In each structural element of the node, the absolute and percentage content of all cells located there was calculated in 60 fields of view of one histological slice. It was established that breast cancer affects the cellular composition of the axillary lymph nodes even before the onset of metastasis, causing a decrease in the number of lymphocytes and an increase in the number of fibroblast cells in all structural components. We regard these transformations as a morphological manifestation of the preparing metastatic "niche". At the onset of metastasis, cells with a well-structured nucleus and oxyphilic cytoplasm, possessing proliferative potential, enter the lymph node. Subsequently, as tumor cells spread in the structures of the lymph node parenchyma, cells with signs of secretory activity, as well as with signs of destruction, appear.

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